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House Republicans are panicking over growing Democratic support for expanding the Supreme Court and now want to cap the current number of justices at nine. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is challenging Trump to build a data center at Mar-a-Lago given that he’s doubling down on embracing them. Former members of Trump’s MAGA movement are now calling it out for its culture of religious devotion to the president. And Vice President JD Vance says he’s actually fine if his policy decisions bring about the end of the world.
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Panicked Republicans Roll Out Bill to Stop Court-Packing Before Losing Majority
Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who is one of the most influential Democrats in Congress, is now backing calls to expand the Supreme Court. He told NBC’s Meet the Press that 13 justices would be a good number to start with, as it matches the current number of federal circuits.
This is particularly significant given Clyburn’s seniority. He’s as establishment as it gets, and his endorsement is credited with helping Joe Biden win the 2020 primary against Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. When someone like Clyburn is now advocating for adding new Supreme Court justices, that shows a seismic shift is afoot.
Clyburn also invoked reviled former Chief Justice Roger Taney and his Dred Scott v. Sandford decision that legitimized treating Black Americans as second-class citizens, saying the Roberts Court risks dragging America back to one of the darkest periods of our history. Former Vice President and 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has also floated the idea of matching the 13 federal circuits with the same number of Supreme Court justices.
Republicans are clearly felt the pressure. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that the Republican-controlled House will soon vote on a constitutional amendment to permanently cap the Court at nine justices. He said it was necessary to prevent Democrats from packing the Supreme Court, and he of course couldn’t resist throwing in some choice words about what he called “communist socialists” plotting to reshape the federal judiciary. Those are two different things, Mike! Pick one and stick with it.
Of course, it’s important to remember that a constitutional amendment is almost impossible to get across the finish line as it needs two-thirds support in both chambers of Congress, as well as from two-thirds of all state legislatures to get ratified. The 27th Amendment took more than 200 years to ratify. Johnson knows this is unlikely, meaning this is an act of political theater dressed up as legislation aimed at painting Democrats as radicals ahead of a critical midterm election.
All theater aside, it’s an undeniable fact that public trust in the Supreme Court is almost completely gone. Only a third of Americans actually approve of the job the Court has been doing. And top Democratic Party figures who once treated court expansion as fringe and unthinkable just a few years ago are now treating it as a mainstream concept.
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‘Put One in Mar-a-Lago’: AOC Challenges Trump on Data Centers
Trump recently wrote on his Truth Social platform that any community opposed to building new data centers is dooming itself to be “backwards and poor.” He said the sprawling facilities known for sucking up water and driving up everyone’s utility bills are creating new jobs and generating tax revenue, and argued that China is thrilled every time a city or county halts or delays data center construction.
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York had a pretty sharp response to the president: if Trump is so bullish on data centers, why doesn’t he have one built next to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida?
Ocasio-Cortez is tapping into a very real sentiment shared by Americans of all political persuasions. A recent poll from YouGov and the Economist found that only one in four Americans actually think new data centers are a positive development. Even Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee — who is one of Trump’s loudest supporters in Congress — said that he must be “backwards and poor” too, since he doesn’t think the administration has done a very good job of defending the necessity of building more loud, polluting, resource-guzzling data centers.
The sentiment against data centers is even alive and well in Republican-dominated Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott, who is in a tight reelection race of his own against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, issued an executive order pausing new data center construction. When Trump’s own allies are bucking him on a major issue, it’s a sign of a potential political reckoning in the very near future.
Former MAGA Supporters Say Trump’s Movement Consumed By ‘Religious Psychosis’
Former members of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement are now going public with their accounts of how and why they left the movement, with many describing it as a religious cult to the Guardian.
One woman from Michigan called her own experience in the MAGA movement a “religious psychosis,” saying her loyalty wasn’t really to the president but to a far-right conservative evangelical culture that encouraged her not to work, or even vote, while never questioning her husband’s decisions. She said for her, MAGA meant “Make America Godly Again,” though she said she was turned off by the rank hypocrisy of those around her.
A Virginia man described how he grew up without a sense of belonging, and eventually allowed himself to be consumed by Islamophobia in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. He then transitioned into evangelical Christianity before becoming a full-blown supporter of the MAGA movement, complete with the signature red hat. He said it took years of consistent trauma therapy before he started asking real questions about what led him down that path.
Rich Logis, who is the founder of the group “Leaving MAGA,” is a former Trump campaign volunteer himself. He said the key is to not try to talk anyone out of anything, but rather just give people a place to land once they’ve started expressing doubts about the president and his movement. “Leaving MAGA” billboards are now up in 27 states now with a simple message: “Having doubts? You are not alone.”
Each of these harrowing stories reveal the sheer level of delusion that consumes most MAGA supporters, along with the immense courage it takes for those people to willingly walk away from a tight-knit community bound together by fierce loyalty to the president. Given Trump’s cratering approval ratings, “Leaving MAGA” may continue to be a valuable resource for Trump’s disaffected base.
JD Vance Says He’s Fine With Bringing About ‘End Times’
Vice President JD Vance recently sat down with a 22 year-old far-right evangelical podcaster. At one point, he asked Vance whether he thinks we’re currently living in the end times. The vice president said he doesn’t know, but added that he wouldn’t be shocked if the actual Antichrist was currently living among us.
Then, Vance said something that should stop us cold. He said he’s trying to focus on doing as much of God’s work as possible, and if that leads to the “end times,” then that’s okay.
This is a pretty alarming remark from the sitting vice president of the United States with presidential ambitions of his own, who is one heartbeat away from having his hand on the nuclear codes. We should all take note whenever someone with that level of power says they’re fine with bringing about a Biblical apocalypse. Vance notably gave this interview right as the Trump administration is publicly cozying up to Vladimir Putin, waging war in the Middle East, and deliberately eroding Americans’ right to vote.
Vance didn’t actually say the name of who he believes is the Antichrist sharing our current reality.
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